Piper PA-28-140 N98122

Summary

On 29 May 1999 at about 19:45 local time, a Piper PA-28-140 registered N98122 was involved in an accident near Hillsborough, New Jersey, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

29 May 1999 at 19:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Hillsborough, New Jersey, United States

Nearest airport

Central Jersey Regional (47N)

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-140

Registration

N98122

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Somerville → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC99FA125

2 people died.

The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed which resulted in an inadvertent stall. A factor in the accident was the pilot's lack of experience in the accident airplane's make and model.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot could not figure out how to get the starter to engage, so he radioed for assistance. The pilot was then told to rotate the ignition switch all the way to the right, and then push in. The starter engaged. The pilot then taxied to the runway, preformed a run-up check, and departed. After becoming airborne, the airplane assumed a 10 to 15 degree climb attitude, and turned left 20 degrees for noise abatement. According to a witness, after completing the turn and reaching approximately 200 feet above ground level, the airplane stalled. The nose of the airplane pitched up and down, but never went below the horizon. The airplane's right wing then impacted a tree, rolled inverted, and impacted the ground in a nose low attitude. No pre-impact failures or malfunctions were discovered during the examination of the wreckage. The pilot had logged a total of 117 hours of flight experience and was signed off in the accident airplane approximately 2 months before the accident. No documentation was discovered that indicated the pilot had any flight experience in the accident airplane.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.